[Old Picture I took at ABC few months back]

I was walking around ABC Achrafieh mall yesterday when I stopped to take a picture of a shop’s front display. As I was checking the picture, a security guy stopped me and told me that it’s forbidden to take pictures of shops as per the management’s decision.

Is that some new regulation? And what’s the point behind it?

I had seen the huge horse few weeks back in ABC mall but I didn’t know what it was for. It turns out Cafe Blanc relocated next to its old location and a new Chinese restaurant called P.F. Chang’s China Bistro opened instead. P.F. Chang’s is a popular Chinese chain in the U.S with some 200 branches.

I checked P.F. Chang’s website and it’s already open in Kuwait and UAE. Mark had reviewed it back in 2009.

I’ve never had it so it’s definitely worth a try.

[Picture by krikOrian]

You can check more pictures of the march Armenians in Lebanon did to commemorate the 97th anniversary of the Armenian genocide [Here].

[Picture from Naharnet]

Two stand-up comedians have been detained for breaching public morality. Edmond Haddad, known for his role on al-Jadeed television’s Chi.N.N. comedy show, and Rawiya al-Shab, who is a theater and film actress, were detained for a stand-up show they presented in 2009 at a pub in Gemmayzeh. [Naharnet]

The article says that a local media outlet was covering the event and reported that their act had violated public morals. In fact, during the sketch, Haddad showed some of his underwear, much to the disappointment of the unnamed media outlet.

Does anyone know which media outlet they are referring to? So what if he showed his boxers? With everything that’s happening in Lebanon, this is the only thing considered as a breach of public morality?

The funny part is that the Beirut judge in charge of the case “has held Haddad and al-Shab on charges of breaching public morals based solely on the newspaper article that initially made the complaint, said al-Akhbar. The judge did not even consider viewing a dvd recording of the comedy show, it added.”

That’s just sad.

I spotted this offer at “3al Baladi” restaurant last time I went there but I totally forgot to post about it until Mark reminded me of it yesterday.

He told me it’s “their version of happy hours” and he’s right. There are lots of restaurants in Keserwan, mainly those facing ATCL that offer “Free Arguile” to girls only on Thursday. Reminds me of the “Ladies Night” at Options night club in Kaslik.

All those privileges and women still wants more rights in Lebanon (-> insert sarcasm <-).

I was at Crepaway Maameltein yesterday when I noticed Karam Restaurant had closed down and a new restaurant, called Aioli is opening instead. It hasn’t been a year that it opened in Maameltein and in Ajaltoun and it’s already closed!

I am not sure anymore that it’s the same Karam as the one in DownTown. I went there twice and I didn’t feel the food was as good as the original one but that doesn’t mean anything.

On the other hand, Saniour opened a new location few months back next to Karam and Al-Balad and it’s always crowded and full.

[YouTube]

This guy has a thing for stealing American movie scenes! First it was 300 and now it’s “The day after tomorrow“.

I tried understanding the lyrics a bit to see if they are anyhow related to the video clip but I didn’t get a single word of what he’s saying. I must say though that it was cool seeing those huge waves pounding the Lebanese shores. The clip must have cost a lot but money is not really an issue when you are married to Yemeni president’s daughter.

[High-Res]

I can’t get enough of this authentic Lebanese house in Ayntoura. One can only hope no one will come up with an ugly building next to it or facing it.

Here’s another picture of it taken by myself in broad daylight. [Picture]

[Picture by Bizriart][High Res]

International icon, the beloved French chanson entertainer Charles Aznavour will be performing on July 6 while British art rocker Chris de Burgh will be putting on his show on July 8. Tickets are already on sale at all Virgin Megastore outlets and Boueri Press. [Link]

I don’t like De Burgh much but Charles Aznavour, born as Shahnour Vaghenagi Aznavourian, is one of my favorite French singers. I was hesitant first to buy tickets because Aznavour is 87 years old, but after I read that he’s on a 21-concerts tour and he’s been praised for his latest performances, I am more excited now to go watch him probably one last time.

My favorite Aznavour songs are Emmenez moi, La Boheme, Hier Encore and Isabelle.

Aside from Aznavour coming to Jounieh’s festival, I must say I am disappointed with the program for this year. They should have gotten one or two recent artists to attract all sorts of crowds.

[Picture from Salimallawzi]

According to this article, two Sudanese athletes were disqualified from the Saida Marathon for making a jump start after they had finished first and second. As a result, a Lebanese claimed first spot.

This doesn’t add up. Couldn’t they have disqualified them at the start? Is there such a thing as a jump start at the Marathon to begin with? I mean unless it’s very obvious, no one checks who jump starts a marathon. In both cases, they should have been disqualified at the start.

[Picture by Marilyn Zakhour]

Update: Here’s a link to the facebook page of the people behind it. [King Nedward the ninth]

That’s awesome! Thumbs up to whomever put this picture up there.

Thanks Johny

[YouTube]

The Cranberries will perform live at the Beiteddine festival on the 14th of July 2012 at 9:00 PM. Tickets are not yet available for sale.

Zombie and the Animal instinct are my two favorite Cranberries songs.

[Picture by BeirutNTSC]

Beit Misk offers Electricity 24/7, Water 24/7, Solar Heating, Gas Piping and Fiber Optics, basically everything that the Lebanese people dream of. Too bad though that a very small minority of Lebanese can afford to buy a house there.

However, and like Tarek stated, I don’t think the Lebanese are ready for such a change. I mean can you imagine no “moteur”? no blackouts? slow internet? no water? Lebanese would lose it if there’s no element of surprise and all their basic needs are met.

Welcome to Third World Lebanon, where electricity has become a privilege for the rich only.

[Picture from BeitMisk.com]

For those who missed this story today:

Two young Lebanese men have been detained for daubing graffiti on Beirut walls in support of the uprising in neighboring Syria, their lawyer and fellow activists said on Saturday.

Fadi Tawfiq, a writer and rights activist, said Ali Fakhri and Khodr Salameh were detained on Friday night for painting the flag used by rebels in Syria and “The revolution continues” in a district considered supportive of the Damascus regime. [Source]

Graffiti is accepted as long as it does not involve drawing on someone’s property or damaging public property. I’ve rarely seen decent graffiti in Lebanon, however most of them were on old deserted buildings or old walls. Having said that, and regardless whether you consider Graffiti to be an art or pure vandalism, I strongly believe our security forces should dedicate more time to catch criminals and terrorists rather than go after activists drawing on walls.

The good news are that both activists were released few hours ago after Prime Minister Najib Mikati got involved personally, following a massive online pressure on him, mainly on Twitter. I am glad that he chose to resolve this issue on the spot rather than ignore it like most politicians and officials do.

Here’s a footage of the small protest that occurred in the afternoon asking for the release of Ali and Khodr.
[YouTube]

I attempted updating my iPhone4′s software to iOS 5.0 three months ago but it was disconnecting every time with my WISE 512Kb connection. I had to wait until I got my 1Mb DSL connection and I was finally able to upgrade to iOs 5.1 this morning. It took me 3 or 4 attempts but it finally worked!

DSL so far is proving to be much faster than WISE. In fact and since I still have my WISE connection until the end of the month, I will attempt downloading the same file at the same time and see how long it takes using each connection.

Unluckily for me though, it seems that the Apple is experiencing some technical difficulties as I am unable to download anything from the App store neither from my iPhone nor from iTunes on the laptop.

Update: AppStore and ITunes are working now.